Quality includes but is not limited to the following[1] :
access to natural light
artificial lighting
connection to the outdoors
acoustics
thermal comfort
occupant control
air quality
Nowadays, people spend more time indoors than outdoors, and air pollution is 25% higher indoors than outdoors.[2] Therefore, improving indoor environmental quality not only impacts the well-being of building occupants physically, socially, and psychologically, but also decreases unnecessary building resources.
Improvement
Socially, good indoor environmental quality helps sustainability of an inhabitant in numerous ways. In many cases, the first thing people are concerned about when they start designing and building a house is the cost of it. However, they do not realize if they would think about first providing occupants with good indoor environment, the building would give back more in the long run economically. [3] Buildings that are sustainable are those that satisfy
occupant comfort and therefore improve productivity, increase energy efficiency, which is environmentally friendly, and allow easy operations.
Historical Background
For years, indoor environmental quality has increasingly become a problem, but little development has been made to it. For about 100 years, indoor air quality was under a lot of attention until 1960 hit when outdoor pollution became a more prominent problem.[4] In developing countries, indoor quality is polluted because of unvented residual biomass in the air, killing 2 million people a year, whereas in developed countries, indoor quality is polluted because of indoor radon intake and environmental tobacco smoke exposure, although smoke exposure has been decreasing. The mystery about breathing air was not solved until the 1800s when scientists finally understood that humans need to breathe air not only for its coolness but also for its substances. Other aspects of indoor environmental quality were not brought to attention until much later. The development and improvement of indoor environmental quality was difficult and slow.
1. Government finds it difficult to put regulation on indoor environmental quality control, because it would violate the privacy issue.[5]
2. There are no solid numbers to prove the economic damage of bad indoor environment.[6]
3. There are few studies being done on indoor environmental quality, which are only focusing on single discipline.[7]
Use a vacuum to suck up all the chemicals and dust, use mops to clean up the residue, and use mats to keep the dirt and pesticides out.
Advantage: easy to accomplish with easily accessible tools
Disadvantage: hard to keep it up fruquently
Keep a healthy level of humidity
Make sure to allow enough air circulation during cooking, using a dish washer to keep mold from growing
Advantage: save electricity bill by keeping down the humidity
Disadvantage: tedious work to do
Make your environment an non-smoking zone
Cigarette smoke contains more than 4,000 chemicals, so stopping the spread of smoke is crucial for a healthy air quality.
Advantage: indoorenvironment changes drastically
Disadvantage: in other parts of the world, non-smoking indoors is not a restriction.
Test for radon
Radon is the second leading cause for lung cancer, checking and maintaining a reasonable level of radon in either new or old home is important.
Advantage: best way to get an accurate reading regarding the radon in buildings
Disadvantage: could be a little costly
Smell good naturally
Most of the chemicals in fragrance are not tested, so if possible, always try to use fresh air and fragrance free product.
Advantage: cheap and easily accessible
Disadvantage: natural smells like fecal matter does not smell good.
Different variations of improving indoor lighting[9]
Use natural lighting over artificial lighting
Design and construct indoors according to the rotation of earth around sun, so that people rise up with bright lights in their bedrooms and study rooms.
Advantage: very good for the biological clock of human body and easily accessible through utilizing passive solar design.
Disadvantage: once any building is built, changing the construction of existing rooms will be difficult.
Use adequate artificial lighting at night
The desired lighting effects are very different for different applications, so design and utilize artificial light wisely to create the atmosphere you need.
Advantage: adding new lights like lamps could be very easy and accessible
Disadvantage: adding new lights like fixed ceiling lights could be a lot more difficult.
Design and construct light reflectance indoor ceilings, wall, and floor surfaces[10]
Light reflectance surfaces allow a better overall space illumination, allowing for fewer light fixtures, and lower electrical cost.
Advantage: If light reflectance surfaces are available, the need for other light adjustment is minor.
Disadvantage: changing indoor surfaces could be inconvenient and costly.
Different variations of improving indoor acoustics[11]
Use canopies and suspended ceilings
Construct canopies and suspended ceilings to allow sound distribution and absorption evenly in rooms and between rooms.
Construct the house with absorptive material to absorb sound
Advantage: more cost effective than reflective material
Disadvantage: cost of installation and materials are higher still than regular walls
Use reflective material for construction
Construct the house with reflective material to reflect sound
Advantage: is more capable of mitigating loud noises
Disadvantage: cost of installation and materials are higher than regular walls and absorptive material
Different variations of improving indoor thermal comfort [13]
Use proper circulation to diffuse heat and air thoroughly
install low-e window film to reduce heat escaping in the winter and heat entering in the summer
Advantage: allow for better outdoor view
Disadvantage: installation and material is more costly.
Set temperatures according to different seasons[14]
Winter temperature better set at below 73.4 F, and summer temperature better set at above 73.4 F.
Advantage: make sure the productivity of workers
Disadvantage: hard to satisfy everyone's preference for desired temperature
Different variations of improving connecting indoors to outdoors[15]
Make physical change to the environment
Physical change like building a patio and porch can greatly increase inhabitants' connection to outdoors.
Advantage: the best connection to outdoors if option is available
Disadvantage: will require more lands and money
Make visual change to the the environment
Visual change like building big windows and french doors can also help inhabitant to feel more connected to outdoors
Advantage: the more available and practical approach of trying to connect to outdoors
Disadvantage: having big windows and French doors can be dangerous for people living in the city
IEQ in Construction Application
While designing and constructing a building with good indoor environment is important, making indoor environmental improvement to existing buildings is also possible. [16] There are a few ways to improve Indoor environmental quality during the construction process.
Only select odorless and safe materials for construction
Design windows and spaces for basic human desires and needs as much as possible
Understand thermal and moisture dynamics as a key part of selecting wall and roof assemblies
Make sure to construct air ventilation system
The following video shows a successful implementation of sustainable practice of St. John's hospital in Denver, Colorado.
Recent Research
Much recent research is done to help improve indoor environmental quality. For example,
1.
The software output indicates overall comfort and sensation
This computer software, which was initially created for improving comfort in cars, is hoping to
include the capability to model the indoor environment in detail, allowing for prediction of comfort and thermal perception, for the body overall, and for specific body parts. [17] By better understanding thermal and occupant response to the environment can greatly help building owners in gaining a better market.
A field study that is designed to quantify the amount of sound transfer in an office environment with an underfloor air distribution (UFAD) system. Noise, as the most prominent factor for annoyance in offices, is demanding for a better solution. This study represents acoustical measurements in a building with an underfloor ventilation system designed to meet the needs of a particular client.
Acoustical septum installed bellow for speech privacy in offices
This study aimed to discover the relationship between ventilation of air and productivity of workers. Given that 90% of expenses are employee salaries, companies really want to improve employee's productivity by providing good ventilation at work.
Table of Contents
Quality includes but is not limited to the following[1] :
- access to natural light
- artificial lighting
- connection to the outdoors
- acoustics
- thermal comfort
- occupant control
- air quality
Nowadays, people spend more time indoors than outdoors, and air pollution is 25% higher indoors than outdoors.[2] Therefore, improving indoor environmental quality not only impacts the well-being of building occupants physically, socially, and psychologically, but also decreases unnecessary building resources.Improvement
Socially, good indoor environmental quality helps sustainability of an inhabitant in numerous ways. In many cases, the first thing people are concerned about when they start designing and building a house is the cost of it. However, they do not realize if they would think about first providing occupants with good indoor environment, the building would give back more in the long run economically. [3] Buildings that are sustainable are those that satisfy
occupant comfort and therefore improve productivity, increase energy efficiency, which is environmentally friendly, and allow easy operations.
Historical Background
For years, indoor environmental quality has increasingly become a problem, but little development has been made to it. For about 100 years, indoor air quality was under a lot of attention until 1960 hit when outdoor pollution became a more prominent problem.[4] In developing countries, indoor quality is polluted because of unvented residual biomass in the air, killing 2 million people a year, whereas in developed countries, indoor quality is polluted because of indoor radon intake and environmental tobacco smoke exposure, although smoke exposure has been decreasing. The mystery about breathing air was not solved until the 1800s when scientists finally understood that humans need to breathe air not only for its coolness but also for its substances. Other aspects of indoor environmental quality were not brought to attention until much later. The development and improvement of indoor environmental quality was difficult and slow.
1. Government finds it difficult to put regulation on indoor environmental quality control, because it would violate the privacy issue.[5]
2. There are no solid numbers to prove the economic damage of bad indoor environment.[6]
3. There are few studies being done on indoor environmental quality, which are only focusing on single discipline.[7]
Available Variations
Different variations of improving air quality[8]
Different variations of improving indoor lighting[9]
Different variations of improving indoor acoustics[11]
Different variations of improving indoor thermal comfort [13]
Different variations of improving connecting indoors to outdoors[15]
IEQ in Construction Application
While designing and constructing a building with good indoor environment is important, making indoor environmental improvement to existing buildings is also possible. [16] There are a few ways to improve Indoor environmental quality during the construction process.
The following video shows a successful implementation of sustainable practice of St. John's hospital in Denver, Colorado.
Recent Research
Much recent research is done to help improve indoor environmental quality. For example,
1.
The Advanced Thermal Comfort Model
This computer software, which was initially created for improving comfort in cars, is hoping to
include the capability to model the indoor environment in detail, allowing for prediction of comfort and thermal perception, for the body overall, and for specific body parts. [17] By better understanding thermal and occupant response to the environment can greatly help building owners in gaining a better market.
2.
Acoustical Field Study in a UFAD Building
A field study that is designed to quantify the amount of sound transfer in an office environment with an underfloor air distribution (UFAD) system. Noise, as the most prominent factor for annoyance in offices, is demanding for a better solution. This study represents acoustical measurements in a building with an underfloor ventilation system designed to meet the needs of a particular client.3.
Occupant Perspectives on Outdoor Noise in Office Buildings
This is an ongoing research on how people prefer outdoors noise over indoors noise and windows over sealed walls.
4.
The Impact of Ventilation on Productivity
This study aimed to discover the relationship between ventilation of air and productivity of workers. Given that 90% of expenses are employee salaries, companies really want to improve employee's productivity by providing good ventilation at work.